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Forest Dept makes first documentary on Sangai

Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 30 2018: 'The Return of Sangai (Sangai Hallakpa)' , the first documentary which highlights the remarkable comeback of the endangered deer Sangai from the brink of extinction was made by the Forest Department.

The documentary also highlights the conservation challenges and the work done by the department and villagers to secure the population of Sangai, the State animal of Manipur.

The documentary was premiered at the curtain raiser function of Sangai Festival held at Keibul Lamjao National Park.

Both English and Manipuri versions of the film is available for viewing on the internet, so that people from around the world can watch and learn about this unique floating habitat and Sangai.

Keibul Lamjao National Park in Manipur is the only floating National Park in the world and conservation of this habitat is very important.

This fragile ecosystem is the only natural habitat of Sangai and many other species.

"Conservation of this habitat, and Sangai is one of the key priorities of Manipur Forest Department" .

said Shri Kereilhouvi Angami IFS, PCCF and HOFF, Manipur.

The Sangai (Rucervus eldii eldii ) is an endangered subspecies of brow-antlered deer, endemic to Keibul Lamjao National Park and lives on the floating decomposed plant materials called phumdi.

Sangai is deeply imbedded into the legends and folklore of the Manipur.

Sangai was declared extinct by 1950, and later rediscovered in 1953 .

With the collaborative work of the forest department and the villagers by providing the right kind of support, the population of Sangai was secured and 260 heads were counted during the last census in 2016 .

"The single isolated population of Sangai is always vulnerable, and it's a challenge to maintain the population and gene pool.

We are trying hard, with the participation of the local villagers to find out another space for having the second population of Sangai and protection of its gene pool," said Anurag Bajpai IFS, CCF, Manipur.

The 11 minutes long film was made by George Thengummoottil and Sumanth Kuduvalli under the guidance of RS Arun IFS, the director of Keibul Lamjao National Park and Sandesh Kadur a well-known film maker who has made several documentaries for The National Geographic Channel.

Through this film, the filmmakers hope that Sangai and Keibul Lamjao National Park will receive the attention it deserves from around the world.

They believe that saving Sangai from the danger of extinction is a great achievement and Keibul Lamjao National Park becomes a world class model for wildlife conservation.

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